8. Safety
- global to personal (rise of extremists like religious fundamentalists, terrorists, etc; personal safety in local communities; ability to provide basic needs like food, shelter, power, etc)
- technology impact (invasion of privacy from the use of technology, eg social media, digitalisation, etc; the military use of drones rather than soldiers on the ground; use of safety cameras around buildings to identify and record threats, etc)
An example of problems with technological security is China. China is aiming to challenge US technological supremacy via an aggressive multi-million dollar, state-subsidised international industry policy entitled "Made in China 2025". Its focus is on information technology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, aerospace, energy-saving vehicles, medical devices and machines.
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer claims that during his tenure, the Chinese "stole" about $US 10 b. of Microsoft's IP (John Kehoe, 2018).
America's concern is more than economic, with defence strategists worried that China is catching up in warfare and espionage technology like artificial intelligence, big data, cyber, submarines, aerospace, hypersonics, nano material, advanced metals, machinery, etc.
China has a policy of forced technology transfer, rather than outright theft, ie overseas firms are coerced into entering 50-50 joint-venture with local Chinese companies in which part of the deal involves transferring technology to the Chinese
History has shown loss of technological advantage can be very damaging, eg Britain losing its advantage in technology to Japan, Germany and the USA over the past 150 years since the Industrial Revolution.
- privacy (loss of it via use of technology)
Using their data bases, tech firms like Facebook and Google are building accurate psychological profiles of their users so that advertisers are better able to target their products and services. Other industries, like supermarkets, airlines, clothing stores, media businesses, etc are collecting data on their customers so that they can do the same, ie better target them for advertising.
"...bundled consent and take-it-or-leave-it terms make it hard for users to understand what exactly they are signing over and the market dominance means there are few alternatives..."
Max Mason 2018
"...Digital platforms may also be designing user interfaces that lead users to make privacy-intrusion selections by appealing to certain psychological or behavioural biases......these include using default settings to opt-in users to certain types of data collection or pre-selecting options that nudge users towards more privacy intrusion choices..."
ACCC report as quoted by Max Mason 2018
This is sometimes called the privacy paradox, ie the cornered consumer who wants the best search has to comply to terms and conditions offered; there is no alternative.
But consumers are starting to realise the power of their personal data and have concerns about how it could be used. In Australia (September 2018), roughly 3% of the country had opted out of having their medical/health data stored digitally under a program entitled My Health Record.
To handle the privacy issues, the consumer must express consent to have their data collected for targeting advertising, ie expressed opt-in consent.
- fake news (misinformation) has resulted in mobs killing people, eg in India fake news (including photographs, videos, etc) on social media about kidnapping gangs. This led to mob violence (Ronald Mizen, 2018).
Global information war, ie there is a concerted effort from China, Russia and Turkey to dominate the English language international news base.
- volatile times
a) stability is no longer the norm (yet much of organisational development theory is based on stability, etc)
b) past success is no guarantee for future success
c) uncertain world with few definitive answers, ie many shades of grey
d) need to be flexible to handle many "unintended consequences" or "unplanned events"
e) change is a journey, not a destination, it is on-going
f) "business as usual" is less likely to be a sustainable option
(source: Stefan Hajkowicz, 2015)
- political trends like national populism
Since the turn of the century, the rise of national populism has occurred and is linked with many people in the lower middle-class and blue collar workers concerned by the increasing inequalities that was isolating them from the benefits of the economic and social fabric of society.
"...some assumed that the "left behind" thesis was only ever about economics...... it was more to do with the feeling of social and national loss......Trump partly tapped into the same sentiment, drawing support from people who felt that the past was referable to the present and the future would be worse. People not only felt left behind but also left out by political, media and cultural elite that holds a fundamentally different set of values...... immigration is causing my country to change in ways that do not like..."
Matthew Goodwin 2018
"...a toxic mix of angst over inequality, migration, security and unresponsive elite will continue to have unpredictable effects for many years to come..."
Matthew Goodwin 2018
- Cyber attacks (they are a constant threat to people's security, especially their data, information, privacy, etc. One of the best-known cyber attacks involved the Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. Some other examples include
- in 2017 Russian hackers got into the systems of 100 American nuclear and other power plants
- in 2017 hackers disabled the safety controls of a Saudi Arabian oil refinery
- in 2007 a cyber attack in Estonia disabled media, banking and government services for around 3 weeks
- before the Russian invasion of Georgia, hackers attacked media outlets and military command centres
- in 2014 leading up to the Ukrainian presidential elections, the country's central electoral system was hacked into
- in 2017 hackers infiltrated the British National Health Service
- in 2017 many global organisations like Maersk, Merck, Nabisco, Cadbury, etc were hacked into
(source: Sue Halpern 2019)